Keelung to Distribute Rat Poison on May 20 Morning, Considers Using Reserve Fund for Rat Catching Amid Hantavirus Case

(CNA, Keelung, May 19, Reporter Wang Chao-yu) Following a confirmed case of Hantavirus in Keelung City, Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang said today that the goal is to deliver rat poison to district offices for collection by 9:30 AM tomorrow. The city government has also procured new poison and is discussing the use of reserve funds to organize a special procurement project for rat-catching. In an interview this afternoon, Hsieh said that the Environmental Protection Bureau currently has a limited stock of rat poison and has been instructed to expedite distribution through the civil affairs system, aiming for delivery to all district offices by 9:30 AM tomorrow for collection by borough chiefs and citizens. Regarding whether the total amount of rat poison is sufficient, Hsieh stated that the city has already purchased new supplies, expected to arrive in late May or early June. He emphasized that the city government "attaches great, great, great importance to this incident" and has decided to report daily to the public on prevention measures, cleaning and disinfection, rat poison distribution, and subsequent procurement progress. The use of reserve funds for a special rat-catching procurement was also discussed today. In response to criticism from DPP Keelung City councilors about a slow response, Hsieh said that after receiving the news around 5 or 6 PM yesterday, he immediately handled the subsequent prevention issues with the utmost speed. He added that over the past two months, due to outbreaks in neighboring cities, the city has already intensified cleaning and disinfection efforts, and he hopes everyone can work together on prevention, regardless of party affiliation. According to information from the Keelung and New Taipei City governments, the case is a man in his 40s from Linkou District, New Taipei City. He was bitten by a rat while cleaning his workplace in Keelung on April 7. He developed symptoms such as fever on May 2 and is expected to be discharged from the hospital today after treatment. The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced this afternoon that the man was confirmed to have Hantavirus syndrome.